The Milky Way Galaxy word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

The Milky Way Galaxy word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

I made this Milky Way galaxy puzzle set for my 3rd and 4th graders during our space unit. The kids knew we lived in the Milky Way but had no idea what a spiral galaxy meant or where the solar system sits inside it. So I put together a word search, a word scramble, and a crossword using words like Milky Way, galaxy, spiral, arms, nucleus, solar system, sun, Orion Arm, center, black hole, astronomer, telescope, stars, dust, gas, light year, and billions. Nothing fancy — just puzzles to help the big picture make sense.

The PDF is four pages. Three puzzles plus one answer key page. The word search works well for quiet time after recess. The scramble gets them talking because they argue over how to spell "galaxy" or where Earth is located in the Milky Way. The crossword I use for partners. I added a couple simple spiral galaxy drawings but nothing too busy.

Works for 3rd through 5th grade. Print and go. Sometimes I have early finishers draw a simple spiral galaxy on the back and mark where the sun might be. The kids actually ask for these now.